I have spent the last 3 years of my life and academic studies focusing on the subject of human flourishing. Let me ask you a question this morning…Are you flourishing in your life? Would you like to? To flourish is to grow healthy, to thrive. I believe it is God’s ultimate goal for us to flourish. If you look at the Bible from beginning to end, it is all about flourishing. In Genesis God creates the heavens and the earth. He fills the earth with abundant plant and animal life and that places humans on the earth to act as his stewards. Humanities first job was to cultivate and enjoy a flourishing garden. God’s first command to humans was “be fruitful and multiply.” That is all flourishing language. At the end of the Bible, in Revelation 22 it shows the culmination of God’s plan to live with humans on a restores and renewed earth where there is flourishing. There is a picture of a river flowing from God’s throne and along the banks of the river are the tree of life that bears fruit all year long and whose leaves bring healing. This is, once again, flourishing language.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus uses the language of flourishing as well. He says things like “I have come that they might have abundant life.” (John 10:10). That is the language of flourishing. In John 15 he says that he is the vine and we are the branches. We must remain connected to him to bear fruit. This is flourishing language. Later, the Apostle Paul picks up this same language of flourishing. In Galatians 5:22-23 he speaks of the “fruit of the spirit” as love, joy, peace, patience, etc… This is most definitely flourishing language.

God wants His children to flourish. As we know, in order for a plant to flourish it needs certain conditions. It needs good soil with good nutrients, it needs the right amounts of sunlight and rain, it needs to be nurtured, weeds to be pulled, pruning, pests and parasites need to be kept away. In the same way, God’s children need to have conditions that are favorable to our flourishing. God lays these out throughout the Bible.

The week we are going to focus on Proverbs. I think it is helpful for us to think of the Proverbs as very simple and clear instructions on how to spiritually, emotionally, relationally and even physically flourish. To learn how to grow a flourishing garden you might want to talk to a wise and seasoned gardener who can give you insights into how to get the most flourishing. How to prepare the soil, when to plan the seeds of plants, how deep to plant, how far apart to space them, how much watering is needed, do they need more sun or more shade, when and how to prune. Proverbs give these kinds of practical wisdom instructions to help God’s people flourish.

Consider one of the short Proverbs: “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” (Proverbs 16:24). Raw honey has health benefits, it contains antioxidants and other good things, and it tastes sweet. I remember as a child seeing my very English grandfather put a giant teaspoon of honey into his cup of tea which he drank several times a day. He lived to be almost 100 (hey maybe I need to start putting honey in my tea?). So honey tastes good and is good for you, win-win, right? In that same way, in our spiritual, emotional and relational life, speaking gracious words or words that are full of grace also taste good and are good for you. Jesus is the ultimate example of what a flourishing human life looks like and it was said of Jesus that he was “full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). Colossians 4:6 says: “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

Maybe I am just getting old, but it seems to me that people are often not very gracious in the ways they speak to each other. In many ways, social media makes it easier to speak very ungracious words to others behind the safety of anonymity or the filter of a phone or computer screen. Now, when I hear someone speaking graciously in public or on social media, I am like, “Wow, that was nice to hear for a change.”

God wants us, His children, to experience flourishing lives. One way toward flourishing is to monitor how we speak and intentionally choose to speak words that convey grace to others. We do not always have to agree with others and even Jesus spoke truth to his opponents, but even hard truth can be spoken with grace. That is part of being wise in our speaking and that is one-step towards a fruitful, productive and flourishing life.